14, 20 minutes after i dropped him off. >> reporter: neil heslin clutched a framed photo of his son as he tried to put words to his sense of loss. >> and jesse was the love of my life. he was the only family i have left. >> reporter: the audience, filled with newtown families wept, and so did some lawmakers, as heslin begged them to ban the kind of weapon used to kill his son. >> that's a dangerous weapon and anybody that can deny or argue that, isn't being honest. >> reporter: california democrat dianne feinstein, who introduced the bill to ban assault weapons, showed footage of what she objects to. >> and that is legal today. >> reporter: newtown doctor william begg described the carnage he saw. >> when a child has 3-11 bullets in them and it's an assault-type

bullet that explodes inside the body, it doesn't go through a straight line. it goes in and then it opens up, that's not a survivable injury. >> reporter: but republicans argued an assault weapons ban would trample on the second amendment. ted cruz of texas. >> and we should not target our efforts to needlessly restricting the constitutional liberties of law-abiding citizens. >> i own an ar-15. i passed the background check. >> reporter: south carolina republican lindsey graham wanted to know why gun sale laws already on the books aren't being enforced. milwaukee's police chief said he has his hands full with more serious gun crimes. >> senator... >> how many cases have you made? >> you know what? it doesn't matter it's a paper thing. i want to stop 76,000... >> can you answer a question. >> i want to finish the answer. i want to stop 76,000 people from buying guns illegally. that's what a background check does. if you think we're going to do

paperwork prosecutions, you're wrong. >> reporter: there was a lot of sympathy today but it didn't appear that any member had a change of heart, at least when it comes to an assault weapons ban. democrats are making more headway, scott, when it comes to strengthening background checks and a bipartisan bill could be introduced in the next couple of weeks. >> pelley: nancy, thank you very much. well, gun violence a major issue in an illinois congressional race overnight. it was a primary to fill the seat resigned by disgraced congressman jesse jackson jr. one of the candidates was buried by antigun advertising. here's dean reynolds. >> thank you so much. >> reporter: former state legislator robin kelly beat 13 other democrats in a primary she said sent a pointed message to the national rifle association. >> a message that tells the nra that their days of holding our country hostage are coming to an end. >> reporter: the second congressional district has rural

stretches but also chicago neighborhoods besieged by gun violence. kelly's support for tougher gun controls is why new york mayor michael bloomberg's political action committee endorsed her and poured $2.2 million into the race. >> they were running i think every seven minutes. >> reporter: most of the money went for adds attacking kelly's chief rival. what did you think when you saw the ads? >> i was shocked. i was shocked. >> reporter: i mean, did it come out of blue? >> yeah! >> reporter: while halvorson's opposition to a gun ban earned her high ratings from the the mayor's committee spent $12 million in eight races so far. in most, guns were an important issue. >> 90% of the public want sensible gun laws and i thought

you certainly saw that in the illinois race. so it's... we're on our way, i think, to making this country safer for everyone. >> reporter: now, to strike at critics who say bloomberg is trying to impose a new york mindset on the rest of the country, his aides say the mayor has no intention of stopping scott, and that elected officials across the nation would do well to take notice of what happened here last night. >> pelley: dean, thank you. the voting rights act has been the law of the land for nearly half a century, helping to ensure that minorities are not denied the right to vote. but today, shelby county alabama, challenged the law at the supreme court, and jan crawford was there. >> reporter: the argument sharply divided the justices. the court's conservative majority appeared poised to strike down at least part of the act and eliminate the current federal oversight of voting in the south. at issue-- a decades-old

revision in the law that requires nine states, mostly in the south, to get approval from the federal government before changing voting laws or procedures. justice antonin scalia called it a racial entitlement. chief justice john roberts asked if the government believed the citizens in the south are more racist than the citizens in north. roberts said current data on voter turnout revealed more problems in massachusetts than mississippi. congress did not rely on current data when in 2006 it re- authorized the voting rights act. it continued to rely on rates of minority voter registration and turnout in the elections of 1964, 1968, and 1972. alabama attorney frank ellis said congress should look at the modern-day south. >> we ask for some recognition that we-- these jurisdictions have made great strides over the last 48 years. >> reporter: the liberal justices strongly defended the law saying congress had thousands of pages of evidence documenting discrimination.

judge sonia sotomayor said "discrimination is discrimination, and what congress said is it continues." said justice stephen breyer, "the disease is still there. it's gotten a lot better are a lot better, but it's still there." that's why civil right attorney debo adegbile said the provision is as necessary today as a generation ago. >> the problems are much more serious, much more repetitive, there is a much greater continuity in certain places than others. >> reporter: now the liberal justices and the obama administration are saying the court should defer to congress which they say is better situated to make judgments about discrimination and voting. but, scott, based on this argument today, it does appear a majority of the conservative justices are ready to tell congress it's going to have to make some changes in that law. if it wants to preserve it. >> pelley: a decision likely months away. jan, thank you very much.

if you hope that democrats and republicans might find a way out from friday's budget crisis, have a look at this picture. that president and republican house speaker john boehner today at a public ceremony and, yes, it is just that bad. nothing is likely to head off the automatic across the board cuts. the cuts, which the washington bureaucracy calls sequester. they were devised to be so deep and so harmful that they would force a compromise, but that didn't happen. the congressional leadership will meet with mr. obama on friday on this. speaker boehner says he won't take action until senate democrats propose a solution and we asked the speaker about that. you say that it's time for the senate democrats to pass a plan. you are the highest ranking republican in government. is this not your responsibility? do you wash your hands of this and leave it to the senate? the house has acted twice. why should the house have to act a third time before the senate does anything? >> pelley: those two bills that you pass read dead now. you have a new congress-- >> we've outlined-- >> pelley: you would have to pass a new bill. >> we've passed bills twice.

they all understand where we're coming from. it's time for them to do something. >> pelley: so you do not believe as the highest ranking republican in the government that this is your responsibility to lead on this issue? >> no, we elect a president to lead. all he has to do is sit down with harpy reid and senate democrats and work out a plan that they can pass. simple as that. >> pelley: the cuts can be changed at any time by a compromise, even after they start. but in the meantime, federal agencies are cutting back, for example, hundreds of illegal immigrants are being released from detention because the administration says it can't afford to keep them. we asked mark strassmann to look into that. >> reporter: you always we're it. you never take it off. >> i cannot take it off. if i take it off they'll come and get me. >> reporter: this electronic band tells immigration officials where fredi alcazar is at all time. the illegal immigrant spent a month in jail after a traffic stop. you were arrested in december and detained on a traffic

violation. what happened gigot stopped for speeding. they asked me for a license. i told them i didn't have one. >> reporter: when you were suddenly released in january from the county jail, were you surprised? >> i was, i was really surprised because i thought they were going to send me to the detention center and from there and get deported. they released me and didn't tell me anything. >> reporter: officials at immigration and customs enforcement-- or i.c.e.-- wouldn't tell me exactly how many detainees they released ahead of friday's automatic budget cuts. they also declined to tell us where and when the releases occur. those let go are required to wear electronic tracking devices, regularly call immigration officials, or visit i.c.e. offices. >> we started getting calls telling us all of a sudden they had been released. we were very much in shock. >> reporter: the early release of detainees surprised people. are these people criminals? >> they are not criminals they're moms, they were dads they're students, in for a

license, a broken taillight. >> reporter: but some members of congress are demanding i.c.e. provide information on each detainees case. congressman michael mccaul is chair of the house homeland security committee. >> when you release these peop and expect them to show up at a court proceeding at a later date we found before about 90% of them don't even show up. >> reporter: besides georgia, we did learn that many releases were in california, arizona, and florida. scott, immigration advocates tell us the cost per day of this supervised release is about $14 whereas it costs $164 a day to keep these detainees in jail. >> pelley: mark strassmann in our atlanta newsroom. mark, thanks very much. the world-renowned pianist van cliburn who started playing the piano at the age of three died today at his home in fort worth. the cause was bone cancer. van cliburn became a superstar as a 23-year-old from fort

worth, texas, when he won the 1958 international tchaikovsky competition in moscow. it was also unexpected the soviet judges went to the soviet premiere for approval to award him the prize. and he was honored back home with a ticker tape parade. cliburn was treated like a rock star with sold out concerts and when "60 minutes" turned 25, he help us celebrate. in 1987, cliburn performed at the white house for the last soviet leader mikhail gorbachev and he got a bear hug. his last appearance was in september. >> i love you all from the bottom of my heart forever. ( applause ) >> reporter: van cliburn was 78. a great spirit. there is a new sign of progress in the fight against obesity. we'll have the story behind this

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>> reporter: it was one of his last public appearances and the normally shy pope made the most of it. causing to bless babies thrust towards him. the pope thanked the crowd and told them he was fully aware of the seriousness and novelty of his decision to resign. some of the cardinals, the princes of the church who will choose the new pope, were in the square. >> described as being a ship tossed on stormy seasons. his 8 year papacy had moments of joy light and also moments that haven't been easy and that at times it seemed as if the lord was sleeping. many in the crowd were moved to tears and the universal feeling towards the departing pope was good will. the vatican said that starting tomorrow benedict will retreat from view and lead a life of prayer and meditation. today he seemed more than happy with the plan. allen pizzey, rome.

>> wall street is not retreating. far from it. the dow shot up 175 points today after federal reserve signal that interest rates will remain low. it finished over 14,000, just 60 points shy of its all-time high. late today the senate confirmed jacob lew the president's former chief of staff to be the new treasure secretary and the vote was 71-26. lew will succeed timothy geithner. the first lady is determined to improve the health of america's children. she tells us how. next. tells our dr. jon lapook how she'll do it, next. hold on, prilosec isn't for fast relief. cue up alka-seltzer. it stops heartburn fast. ♪ oh what a relief it is! ♪

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school kids are either overweight or obese, yet only 15% of parents say their kids are overweight or obese. i asked the first lady about that. >> well, we still have work to do, and that's one of the reasons why we're focusing on information and providing information, stronger communication for parents so that they have the information they need to make the healthy choice, the easier and affordable choice. >> reporter: what do you do about the kid who's home, he's watching tv or she's watching tv and there are junk food commercials being pushed? you've tried to do something about this. how hard is it? >> you can talk to a kid until you're blue in the face, but if they see mickey mouse on a can of something, they'll be more inclined to want that. so mickey can be on some broccoli, too. so-- but we-- we have more work to do. we're-- we're not at the finish line yet. >> reporter: scott, mrs. obama also had a lot to say about the importance of changing

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weather talent appears at wx center with generic >> pelley: the president and congressional leaders today unveiled s the president and congressional leaders today unveiled a statue of civil rights pioneer rosa parks, the first black woman so honored in statuary hall. she is seated, a tribute to her refusal to give up her seat on a bus to a white man as the law then required. terrell anderson is a fourth cousin of rosa parks, and this is a moment he will never forget. but there's also an unsung hero in this story and michelle miller caught up with her. >> reporter: claudette colvin was just 15 when she refused to give up her seat on a segregated bus in montgomery, alabama. it was nine months before rosa parks' act of defiance in 1955. the bus driver yelled back to you. >> she said, y'alls give me those seats. so three of the girls got up and moved but i remained seated. >> reporter: colvin says she

drew her strength from african- american abolitionists she had learned about in school. >> it felt like harriet tubman was pushing me down on one shoulder and sojourner truth was pushing me down with the other. they put me in a patrol car. >> reporter: colvin's arrest and conviction caught the attention of community activists looking for a case to challenge segregation laws in court. rosa parks was the secretary of a local civil rights organization and took colvin under her wing. >> she thought i was this overblown teenager that sassed white people. >> reporter: what did she realize once she met you? >> she realized that i was intellectually mature enough to know right from wrong. >> reporter: but ultimately, parks, a seamstress with a spotless reputation, was chosen to be the face of the boycott. leaders believed that parks would garner strong public support unlike colvin, who had

become pregnant. are you sorry that they didn't pick you? >> no. i'm glad they didn't pick me because i wanted the bus boycott to be 100% successful. >> reporter: parks continued to help lead the bus boycott, but it was the federal lawsuit filed by colvin and three other women that resulted in a landmark supreme court decision. that ruling in 1956 outlawed segregation on public transportation. >> there was many, many other stories similar to my story. >> reporter: stories of courage in america's march for justice. michelle miller, cbs news, new york. >> and that's the "cbs evening news" for tonight. for all of us at cbs news all around the world, good night.

>> your realtime captioner: linda marie macdonald he was wearing body armor. >> ready for battle before he gunned down police. >> both detectives were killed at the doorstep. >> reporter: tonight an admission, those santa cruz officers had no idea who they were dealing with. >> two patients, victims of gunshot wounds. >> reporter: how the shooter seized their weapons. >> they were disarmed and their vehicle was stolen. >> reporter: and his shady past. >> for a while i couldn't go to the bathroom by myself. >> good evening, i'm allen martin. >> i'm elizabeth cook. the detectives shot and killed yesterday were the first santa cruz police officers ever to

die in the line of duty. and as their family, friends and colleagues mourn their deaths, we are learning more about their suspected killer's troubled past and just how deeply disturbed he really was. we have team coverage tonight. kpix 5's mark sayre learned more today about what led up to the shooting. but first len ramirez is at the police station, where a memorial is growing. len. >> reporter: that's right. the santa cruz community continues to be drawn to the police department. you can see behind me that people have gathered, there's candles that are burning into the night in santa cruz. 200 people are also gathering across the street at the louden nelson community center. it is where that part of the community is coming together to grieve and lend support to the santa cruz police department in this, their time of need. >> we're having a tough time with this. we have never experienced

anything like this. >> reporter: surrounded by fellow law enforcement chiefs, some visibly shaken and filled with emotion, santa cruz police chief kevin vogel struggled tort words to describe his department's loss, the city's first-ever officers killed in the line of duty. >> today we mourn the loss of our brother butch and our sister elizabeth. and we grieve with their families. >> reporter: loran "butch" baker was a 28-year veteran of the santa cruz pd married and father of three. he was considered the department's top investigator and served for years as a field training officer. he guided many of the younger officers including the chief. >> i considered butch not only to be my coworker but also my mentor and my friend. >> reporter: elizabeth butler was a ten-year department veteran worked in patrol later assigned to narcotics and became a detective specializing in sexual assaults the type of case she was on when killed. she was also the mother of two young boys. >> elizabeth leaves behind her partner peter and